Once considered the ultimate stamp of geekdom, Dungeons & Dragons has emerged from a simple dice-rolling game into a cultural phenomenon, now celebrating 40 years with a collection of short stories penned by R.A. Salvatore.

The audiobook anthology, The Legend of Drizzt, follows the beloved Drizzt Do'Urden, brought to life by an all-star lineup of narrators, including nerd favorites Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: TNG), Felicia Day (The Guild), and Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings).

"Some people think of D&D players as these geeks," Astin said in a behind-the-scenes video (below). "To me, they were this kind of untouchable, creative people. This space of thieves and assassins I wanted to have a legitimate part of it. Now that I've read an audiobook for Dungeons & Dragons, I can feel a little bit tougher."

For others, like rapper, actor, and D&D newbie Ice-T, the process was a bit more nerve wracking.

"This is very intimidating to me. People don't think Ice-T can get intimidated. Yeah, well, make me read a Dungeons & Dragons book, yeah, I'm intimidated," he said. "Definitely far from where I grew up."

These collected narratives include stories published over the years in Forgotten Realms anthologies and the official Dragon magazine, now compiled and available in one placeexclusively at Audible.

"I think people are going to just love hearing these stories come to life," said Day, a fangirl herself. "It's a really grand adventure."

Whether you're a lifelong D&D fan, looking to catch up with Drizzt, Jarlaxle, and Entreri, or new to the fandom, but really love the sound of Draco Malfoy's voice, the free audiobook is available to download through noon Eastern on Sept. 20.

"On behalf of an audience that is as blood-loyal and appreciative of an audience as you can possibly imagine, so there's no reason not to," Astin said.

His thoughts were echoed by Grunberg, who said that the opportunity to participate in something that brings Dungeons & Dragons to future generations "was a no brainer for me."

Take a look behind the scenes of the audiobook in the video below.

But actors aren't the only ones warming up their 20-sided dice: Artist Scott Wayne Indiana launched a Brooklyn yoga class based on the board game, complete with a dungeon master narrating the action while a yoga teacher directs the group to do poses.

About the Author

Stephanie joined PCMag in May 2012, moving to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland. She interned at Baltimore magazine and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (in the town of Indiana, in the state of Pennsylvania) with a degree in ... See Full Bio

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